Fair Warning: blood will be mentioned graphically, as well as certain characters acting, well, out of character. You have been warned...

It began like it always did, with a cold sweat and terrified whimpers from Fluttershy; it's been like this since the anniversary of the Fruit Bat Incident a few months ago.

THUMP...THUMP...

The dream began with those thrums of bass, coming from something organic, though she could never quite figure it out. Regardless, that corpulent noise always drew to her, or rather the body she was observing.

THUMP THUMP... THUMP THUMP...

After the second set, the image would focus on a hazy red outline of a pony in some obscure alleyway or out of reach area, always a different one walking to their unsuspecting demise. Once the pony apparition enters deep enough, the flapping of wings and a faint hiss would be heard, suddenly changing perspective to the pony being hunted. They'd hear a rattle of a can or a nearby alleycat screech and scurry away, making that thump-thumping louder and more frequent. Further down they went, their pace always quickening in time with the unnatural beat coaxing them along.

Oh dear, it seems somepony got lost... Pity...

The new voice laughed maniacally, bouncing off the walls and frightening the prey further. Suddenly, those shadows and blurs running past were larger and more frequent. The Thump-Thumping is now going off like a beat on multiple bongo drums, getting deeper and louder with every passing second.

Over here, my little pony. I promise I won't bite! *chuckles* much...

The voice sounded more soothing than it did, the perfect lure to a terrified victim. The frightened pony approached with caution towards the voice, albeit less fearful now. "W-who's there?!" They always called out in that satisfying coating of fear trembling their voice. It seeped through the cracks of their psyche, leaving an overwhelming stench of terror.

Come closer and find out... the voice uttered out, followed by a playfully sadistic giggle.

Ever more closer they inched towards the voice, following the false siren to the end. What awaited them were blood red irises sheltered in the shadows of a wall. They realized too late that they were no more prey to a predator as the eyes lunged forward, uttering a hissing screech.

THUMP TH-

...the drumbeat ended. All that was left of the victim was no more than a pool of blood the size of a plate, the pale reflection of the moon glistening within. The click-clack of hooves approached the crimson puddle, revealing a cream yellow muzzle with a twisted and bloody fanged smile, those red slitted eyes staring within.

She turned her head in curiosity, then smiled even wider. [
"Not long now, before your soul is mine! It lunged, then everything went dark...

"AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!" Fluttershy screamed, sending all her forest critters scurrying away. The only one that remained was Angel, snapping her out of it with a quick slap to the muzzle. "H-huh, what?!" She looked around, and breathed a sigh of relief. "Oh thank goodness! It was just a dream..." She stared back down to her closest animal friend, smiling gently and trying to ease his look of worry. "It's nothing to worry about, Angel Bunny. I only had a nightmare."

Heh, or so you think...

Shaking her head, she snapped out of it. "Well, no use moping about a n-nightmare, now is there?" She chuckled nervously. Setting the bunny down, Fluttershy began her morning routine acting as if nothing happened at all. A shower followed by a quick comb of her mane, the cream colored Pegasus headed downstairs to cook breakfast for her and her animal friends living with her in the small shack on the borders of the Everfree Forest. "Good morning my adorable animal friends!" She greeted them, setting out the respective food trays.

"Well, now that my morning duties are done, what's next?" She wondered, trying to find her event calendar. Maintaining an animal shelter such as this on top of chores and activities Fluttershy had planned was putting stress on her mind, or at least that's how she explained the nightmares. let's see here, today is the 14th of Sun's Eve...

The date was circled in red. "Oh, of course! I almost forgot!" She exclaimed. "Today the fruit bat sanctuary is being moved to join the new sanctuary my friends helped me build!" Her smile dimmed however. It was also the anniversary of her infamous "Incident". No matter how many ponies pressed her and her friends, they would all reply the same script: that it was an incident involving Fluttershy and nothing more. The rumors however, were that she was part of some freak magical accident and got turned into a vampire.

The rumors escalated especially during Nightmare Night to the point where little fillies would dress up in a "Flutter-Bat" costume. Those weren't bad to put up with; children don't know any better. What really hurt were the eggs thrown at her home, the mares and colts her age eying her suspiciously, and the teenagers constantly trying to scare her because teens don't know how to cope with something scary other than scaring the thing that scares them, especially if it's physical and gets scared easily. Fluttershy knew that it would pass, as it did the two years previously.

"Ouch!" A kick in the foreleg by an increasingly impatient and hungry bunny shook her of the exposition she was having however. "Oh goodness, I'm so sorry Angel Bunny!" She looked around "It seems I fed everyone but you! I'm so sorry, can you ever forgive me?" She asked in the cutest puppy dog look imaginable. Rolling his eyes the white rabbit relented, having come face to face with the power of cuteness on that magnitude.

One heaping gourmet salad bowl later, and Fluttershy was finally done. Stretching a bit, she bid her animal friends farewell, departing for the Apple Family Orchard, as well as the beginning of her blood-soaked rebirth and the unleashing of a new monster upon this world...

Author's Note

As stated at the top of this chapter, there will be a lot of gore, and I do mean A LOT. Like, literal pools of blood.

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............Okay I know what you're thinking, and the answer is no, I would not subject poor Fluttershy to ~~a gruesome amount of mental manipulation and torture~~ an evening filled with conquering her new fear of Apples and Apple related accessories within the first few chapters, and you're probably right, or probably wrong.

To be honest, it can go both ways! Have fun reading!